The collaboration between sculptor Isamu Noguchi and choreographer Martha Graham brought great visual art to the performance stage. But it also produced sets and props that were a menace for the dancers who had to roll all over them, or, worse yet, wear them.

Former dancer Janet Eilber ‘fesses up to the dirty little secret in the catalogue that accompanies the Noguchi Museum’s new exhibit, “Noguchi and Graham: Selected Works for Dance.” She writes: “These renowned works of architectural art, though heart-stoppingly spare and breathtakingly evocative, are also – let’s face it – teeth-grindingly, bone-achingly uncomfortable.”

The admission is a funny aside to an exhibit that is otherwise entirely celebratory of this unusual collaboration. For where else but a Noguchi set (for “Phaedra”) would a bed be represented, as Ms. Eilber describes it, as a “raked, titled, and sharp-edged” object. In her entertaining essay, she goes on to explain that while the sets were painful to work with, there was a benefit: They made the dancers work even harder to create the necessary illusions.

“Our task is to embody the music, to possess the movement, and to sculpt ourselves into Noguchi’s designs. As our interpretations evolve, they are deepened and elevated by the effort. Our need to incorporate the sets into our performance – by clinging, balancing, twisting, grasping, and pushing – eventually aligns with the intention of Graham’s famed physical vocabulary to reveal the emotional heart of the dance.”

Speaking of emotional heart, I found this exhibit had a little less than I was hoping for. The show includes nine of the 19 sets that he created for Graham’s works, starting with their first collaboration, “Frontier,” in 1935.The sculptures and props are arranged as works of art in and of themselves, with layouts for the stage placement accompanying each exhibit.

But stage sets are stage sets – even if they are by Noguchi. They have markings and notations on the side that the audience doesn’t see. And they seem so much less grand when clustered in the low-ceilinged room, rather than on a majestic, dark stage. I tried to see them as art, but I ended up seeing them as stage sets arranged here and there. (And I reminded myself of the song “Nothing” from “A Chorus Line.”)

The one piece that I did find utterly captivating on its own was the bed from “Night Journey.” It combines two abstract figures of a man and a woman and has a hefty weight to it; the metallic paint and rough edges make it appear very much of the natural world, prehistoric even.

The exhibit does provide video footage of dancers performing on stage with the sets, which puts the sculptures in context and is pleasant to watch. It also provides a fair amount of commentary and explanation about how the two artists worked together. But as is often the case with such things, talking and reading about them makes less of an impact than seeing the real thing.

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Dance audiences will soon be able to see a different sort of collaboration between a variety of artists at the Joyce Theater. The Merce Cunningham Dance Company is in town from December 14 to 19 with a week of “events” that will feature different live music and decor during each performance.

In these collaborations, unlike the Noguchi works for Graham, there is no cohesive effort to create a specific mood. The music and dance are created separately, then brought together by chance. The visual designs, which will each only be shown once, were created by a long roster of artists, selected by Mr. Cunningham with the assistance of a committee. The musical selections were led by John King, who himself composed some works to be presented.

With so many variables, you never know what you’ll get.

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As I reported last week, Dance Theater of Harlem is getting its house in order. The school has reopened. The board of directors is growing. There’s cash in the kitty. And a new executive director is in place. Now what remains is to raise enough capital to get the company running and performing again. With a consultant like Kennedy Center president, Michael Kaiser – the “Mr. Fix-It of the nonprofit world,” as Mayor Bloomberg put it – at the helm, there’s likely to be good news in the future.

My hope for this company is that it increases its image as “neoclassical” by doing more Balanchine ballets. The company performed a great many of the choreographer’s works on tour this year, but New Yorkers didn’t get to see the results. If DTH can anchor its programs in this masterful repertory, then sprinkle in new works, I’d be a happy audience member. And if those new works were to be made by some practiced, talented hands, I’d be even happier. So, at the top of my wish list for DTH: good stuff to watch.

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The recent passing of British ballerina Alicia Markova brought to mind thoughts about what makes a dancer memorable. And for those of us who are not lucky enough to have witnessed a dancer’s career (I never saw Markova), what makes us sorry to have missed it?

In the case of Markova, it was her capacity for lightness and precision. The consensus view is that her treatment of “Giselle” is among the greats, especially due to her ability to create a haunting sense of weightlessness. But in general, it is the ability of the dancer to recognize his or her gifts and develop them fully. It is the willingness to be an artist: to take a risk with creativity that results in something unique.

In his recent book, “The Power of Jewelry,” the renown designer Robert Lee Morris (famous for his collaboration with fashion designer Donna Karan) has a passage that I find one of the most thoughtful descriptions of what it means to be an artist: “I learned that what made my work powerful was the vulnerability that allowed the world to look into my open heart and see through my eyes. That vulnerability welcomes, embraces, and comforts people; it disarms them because it is a beacon of warmth, like a hand reaching out for friendship.”

When artists find a way to help us see through their eyes – with their interpretations and ideas – that is when they make a glorious, indelible mark on history.

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The stateside centennial celebration of Russian choreographer Leonid Jacobson will have to wait a few months. The St. Petersburg Ballet Society has postponed this week’s Jacobson 100 program until late February, though the new dates are not yet official.

The decision to postpone the mixed bill programs was made when several dancers encountered visa problems.

“We wanted to put our best foot forward, even if its not in the centennial year,” said president of the St. Petersburg Ballet Society, Karl Bart. His organization is dedicated to preserving Russian ballet traditions, especially those established by the Vaganova Academy and the Kirov Ballet, where Jacobson’s ballets were performed. A controversial figure who was persecuted under communist rule, Jacobson is comparatively little known in the West. To learn more, visit www.spbs.org – and wait patiently for performance news.